The innocent can never last
by Pols
Summary: Shadow warns Sonic and the others of a new and strange foe. What is this mysterious new enemy and how can it be stopped?
1. Here comes the Rain again

Woooo! Hello there everyone! I'm back with a brand new story! It's called "**The innocent can never last**." I got this name coz I was listening to "**_Wake me Upwhen September ends_**" by Green Day as I was writing the first chapter. I literally just thought up this first chapter as a scene in my head and wrote it down. I hope u enjoy it and like it as much as my other stories!  
Also a quick shout out! I have some Sonic fan art on my deviantart account. Plz go check them out and comment for me!

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**Chapter 1**

Night time. A depressing looking street.

Rain was falling down as hard and as cruel as ever. The numerous drops sharply hit the concrete ground, like small daggers falling from the dark sky.

A black hedgehog ran through the depressing weather, his hands trying to shelter his head and his face hidden in the darkness of the night. One of his arms was bound in a bandage, which had obviously been put on in a hurry as you could tell from one glance.

The ground splashed as he ran and you could just hear his heavy breathing, if you listened carefully amongst the horrible sound of the rain.

The hedgehog reached a cross road. He stopped and peered up at the tall sign posts, trying to shield his eyes from the water.

"…Now where?" he gasped to himself.

He looked at the roads then back at the signposts. He was slowly beginning to shiver from the dampness of his fur and the bitter coldness in the air around him. After a while, the hedgehog decided his route.

"This way will do!" he yelled, again to himself, in frustration.

He ran down the road on the left.

After some time, the hedgehog's vision became to go blurry. Some of this was because of the rain but he was also beginning to have a strange feeling in his head. It was like an icy cold feeling travelling up from his arm and around his body. It was making him feel sick. Forcing himself to stop, the hedgehog staggered a little and put his hand to his forehead, hissing in pain.

"No…not now!" he pleaded aloud.

He felt his knees smack the pavement as his vision began to disappear. His breathing became sharper and his eyelids were beginning to flutter shut.

"I…must find …Sonic!" he yelled.

"Shadow!" came a voice, seemingly from above.

It seemed that his last yell had taken the energy out of Shadow as, just as he heard the voice, he fell forward allowing his body to hit the concrete ground. The arm holding the bandage was shaking slightly but then again so was the rest of Shadow's body.

…

Sonic was at the far side of the road when he heard someone call his name. Keeping a tight hold of his umbrella, he turned the corner and saw a figure fall to his knees. As he got closer he recognised the figure as his old friend Shadow.

"Shadow!" Sonic yelled.

He gasped as he saw Shadow faint and ran to him. Sonic knelt by his friend's head and, without hesitation, lifted him. Using his own shoulder to bare the weight, Sonic carefully carried the unconscious Shadow a few steps down the road and toward his apartment.

It turned out that Shadow had chosen the right road after all, as Sonic's apartment was only a few steps away from where he'd fainted.

…

After what seemed like a good long while, Shadow could feel himself coming round. He began to hear voices and was unsure if they were real or not.

"What the heck happened?" said one voice.  
"I don't know! I literally found him on the street!" replied the second.  
"I wonder why his arm's wrapped like that…" came a third.

Shadow groaned as the pain began to come back to his arm. Also, his head was swirling and it took a little bit for his vision to completely come back into focus.

"Hey I think he's waking up!" said the first voice again.

Shadow could finally see that the voices belonged to Sonic Tails and Knuckles.

"Shadow, are you alright?" Sonic asked, peering at Shadow with a look of worry on his face.

Shadow slowly sat upright, being careful not to hit his arm.

"…I think so…" he replied, rather absentmindedly.

"What were you doing out there?" Tails asked.  
"I had to find you…there's something going on that you won't wanna miss…"


	2. Alien Talk

**Thanks for the reviews u guys! Now I have to tell you, I'm going away tommorow for a fews day (seeing as I have now offiially finished Secondary Education :D) Anyway so yeh I won't be able to get access to the net so I'll have to leave u hanging for a few days. lol Sorry about that but enjoy this chapter!**

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**Chapter 2**

"What are you talking about?" Sonic asked.  
"Yeah and why's your arm all screwed?" Knuckles butted in.

Shadow's mind began to rush. Now that he'd finally found Sonic, Shadow's news was beginning to whirl around his brain, eager to come out.

"It was truly awful! But it all happened so quickly, I..I…" Shadow spoke quickly.  
"Calm down!" Sonic interrupted.  
"Just tell us what you can." Tails said.

Shadow sighed, getting himself together.  
"Well…it was just a few hours ago now…" he said, rather quickly.

_**FLASHBACK – 5 hours ago (6pm to be precise!)**_

Early evening.

Shadow was lying on the sands of Emerald Coast. He listened to the sea washing on the shore and the gulls calling out into the sunset. His eyes were closed and his arms were placed behind his head, acting as a pillow. He breathed deeply and was drifting off into a sleep.

But suddenly a strange sound was heard. It sounded like some kind of disgusting foreign tongue mixed with an electronic speech of some kind. It certainly was the strangest sound Shadow had heard in his lifetime.

As he heard the noise, Shadow's ear twitched. He opened his eyes and sat up, looked around to try and find out what had caused the noise but he saw nothing ahead of him.

Shadow stood up. Just then the noise came again but this time it was louder (so much louder in fact that it made Shadow jump slightly). He swung round, gasping a little, and saw one of the most horrific and surprising sights ever.

Standing on the promenade, just above the sand, were 4 strange looking creatures. Their bodies were green coloured and looked as if they had some kind of armour plating about them. Their heads were narrow and thin, clearly showing the outlines of their skulls. Their arms stood out the most, though. The arms were made out of steel and bent downwards (like a praying mantice), resembling blades. They looked incredibly sharp and menacing indeed.

Shadow was taken aback by this sight, very much so. For a while he couldn't speak and allowed the alien like things to take a good look at him.

Eventually, Shadow gathered his nerve.

"…Whatever you are, you better not be here to cause trouble!" he yelled, clenching his teeth.

The aliens didn't answer and continued to stand there and stare at the hedgehog, curiously making comments to each other in their strange yet gruesome language.  
"Hey! Did you not here me!" Shadow yelled again, in an attempt to make himself heard.

Suddenly the creatures jumped down onto the beach and began to walk toward Shadow, their large feet stomping on the sand as they went.

Shadow blinked and took a slight step back. He frowned.

"You want to take me on? I dare you!" he shouted at the creatures.

He immediately swung his arm back and began to gather Chaos Spears. He clenched his teeth.

"CHOAS SPEAR!" he yelled and fired at the monsters.

The powerful attack flew directly toward the creatures, destined to be a perfect strike. But in an instant, one of the monsters swung its arm at the attack, deflecting it off of the sharp metallic blade. The spears were sent off toward the evening sky.

"What?" Shadow gasped.

Just then he was struck in the face by the same creature that had deflected the spears. He was thrown back across the beach and ended up hitting the sand. He rolled painfully through the annoying beads of sand and sent a cloud of it in the air.

The creature, which had struck Shadow across the face, roared in the horrible language and the other 3 creatures joined in. The sand began to settle and Shadow emerged and shook his head. He rubbed his face and winced in pain.

Suddenly the 4 aliens flew at Shadow, giving him a fright. Before Shadow could react, one of the creatures lifted up its blade of an arm. Glinting in the light of the evening, the blade swung down and struck Shadow's arm.

Shadow cried out in pain and clutched the wound. Using his feet he pushed himself away from the creatures, for he expected them to try something else.

But they didn't. Instead, the alien things roared again and, just as quick as ever, jumped up and darted away through the sky.

Shadow remained sitting on the sand. He looked at his arm, shaking slightly from the shock, and saw the sheer amount of blood he was loosing. He looked closer and noticed a strange greenish glow around the areas of cut skin. The green colouring began to glow and just then Shadow felt a strange feeling about him.

A horrible icy cold feeling was travelling up through his wounded arm and Shadow could feel it going around his boy. Then the strange new feeling hit his head and caused Shadow great pain. His vision became blurry.

Shadow carefully stood up, holding his head and wincing in pain.

"What….What have they done to me?" Shadow thought.

Then his body couldn't take it anymore and Shadow felt his eyes roll backward and let his body fall forward, hitting the sand.

He saw no more.

_**END FLASHBACK**_

"That's the last I remember of the fight." Shadow continued. "The next thing I remember was waking up a few hours later. I looked at my arm but all the blood had gone."

He began to take off the bandage.

"This was all that remained." He said.

Sonic Knuckles and Tails gasped and drew back as they saw Shadow's gruesome scar. It looked like any normal wound that was on its way to recovery but this cut had strange green covering to it. Mixed with the darkness of Shadow's blood, this looked repulsive.

"Man!" was the only thing Sonic could say.  
"I know…" Shadow replied. "I knew that I had to tell you so I ran to the nearest pharmacy and got some bandages. Then the damn rain started…"

"Well you can stay here for the night then maybe get it checked out tomorrow?" Sonic suggested.

Shadow nodded.

"Thanks." He said.  
"Oh and you did the right thing by telling me about these alien guys. Whoever they are, I'll get rid of 'em!" Sonic added.


	3. Shadow's Nightmare

**Hey guys! I'm back from my break and bring to u a new chapter:D  
I hope everyone's been tuning into Live 8! I saw Green Day in Berlin (on TV obviously!) and they rocked, along with Keane, Coldplay and many others! lol so yeh Let's all do something about poverty and tune in!  
Enjoy the chapter!**

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**Chapter 3**

Several hours later, everyone was asleep. Shadow was given the sofa, for which he was grateful as it was very large and comfortable. But even with this in mind, Shadow began to drift into a strange nightmare.

He found himself in a scary new atmosphere. The ground was rocky and barren. There were no walls surrounding him, just a dark red sky filled with smoke. The wind blew and lifted a vast amount of dust as it did so. Shadow coughed and spluttered and the dust was thrown in his face. He wiped his eyes clean and as he lifted his arm away, he saw creatures standing around him; the same creatures he'd fought on the beach.

Shadow gasped in surprise and stood back a little. But then a sharp pain shot into his arm. He cried aloud and clutched his wound in a feeble attempt to harness the pain. The creatures just stood over the hedgehog and watched as the pain began to take over him. The awful feeling began to get so overwhelming for Shadow that he eventually fell to the ground. Something was trying to take over but Shadow refused to let it do so. He winced and began to shake a little.

Just then he heard voices. They spoke to him slowly and almost sounded hypnotic.

"Welcome to our World…" said the first voice.

Shadow remained lying on the rocky floor, the awful feeling now almost completely embracing him.

**_"Yes…Now just let yourself come to us."_** said a second voice.  
**_"There's no need to fight. The pain will stop soon…"_** said a third.

"NO!" Shadow shouted, continuing to shake.

**_"All you are doing is making things harder for yourself, hedgehog."_** said the second voice again.

Shadow's pain increased and he yelled aloud for help.

Then another voice came into the frame, and this was a voice that Shadow recognised and was thankful to hear.

"Shadow! Shadow wake up!"

…

Sonic thought he'd heard something from downstairs and so went down to investigate. He'd found Shadow in a state on the sofa. He was shaking and clutching his arm. His forehead was sweaty and he was shouting.

"NO!" Shadow yelled out in his sleep.

Sonic grabbed Shadow's shoulders and began to shake him.

"Shadow! Shadow wake up!" he cried.

Almost immediately, Shadow's eyes opened and he began gasping for breath. It took him a few seconds to figure out that he was no longer in his terrible dream world. He quickly sat up, still breathless, and looked at his arm. He was still clutching his wound and found that he couldn't easily let go.

"I…I was in pain…It was too intense…I almost let them take me…" he whispered, more to himself than to Sonic.

"Let who take you?" Sonic asked.

Shadow didn't answer and, instead, managed to lift his hand from his wound and saw that it had bled. The colour of the blood was the disgusting mix of dark red and green. However the green seemed to overpower to natural red of Shadow's blood and the cut itself was now sealed.

"…Shadow?" Sonic said worringly.

Shadow shook his head and looked back at Sonic.

"I had a dream, well it for more real than a dream but…Anyway, you know those aliens I told you about?"

Sonic nodded and listened as Shadow told about how the aliens were trying to take him over to their side.

"It felt so real, Sonic. I was in so much pain…they said it'd stop if I let myself join them." Shadow finished.

"Wait, you could understand them?" Sonic asked.

Shadow nodded.

"I think whatever was trying to take over my body allowed me to understand their speech somehow…" he said.

"What's going on you guys?" came a voice from the stairs.

Sonic and Shadow looked and saw Tails standing on the steps, wiping his eyes.

"Something weird is what's going on Tails. Go wake up Knuckles -"  
"No need…" Knuckles replied yawning and walking down the stairs.

"Oh. Well…There's something up and you'll both need to hear about it." Sonic said.

Shadow told Tails and Knuckles about his nightmare. They too became concerned.

"This is probably how the aliens create more numbers. We'll have to stop them before they take over town!" Tails said.

"Or worse, the world." Knuckles said.

"I guess I'm lucky they didn't get me just now…" Shadow said quietly.  
"You bet your ass you're lucky!" Sonic replied.

"Don't worry Shadow. We'll help you as long as we can in making sure they don't get you." Tails said, trying to sound reassuring.

Shadow sighed.

"Thanks Tails but I'm not too sure that -"  
"Don't even think about it Shadow. Those things ain't getting you and that's that!" Sonic butted in.

Shadow didn't feel as confident as that but smiled anyway.


	4. Paranoia

**Here's the next chapter:D Plz keep ure reviews coming! **

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**Chapter 4**

Meanwhile, four alien creatures stood in a deep underground cave. They were cursing at Shadow's resistance and the other strange hedgehog's interference. These creatures were the very same things that had attacked Shadow earlier on at the beach. They'd hidden deep underground to their temporary HQ. The base wasn't that big but was able to keep these creatures alive and suited their needs.

The four creatures slowly walked to the centre of their living quarters in a rather sheepish manor. Sitting in the centre was another creature. This one was the same as the others except it was noticeably larger. This particular alien was the leader.

The Leader turned and began to speak in the disgusting foreign language. It seemed angry but it was difficult to tell as the Leader's voice was naturally deeper than it's subjects'.

**_"Well?"_** said the Leader.

The four creatures looked at one another before one bravely stepped forward, choosing to be representative.

**_"We emerged on the surface and found one subject_**." said the first alien. **_"He was not a human, but we managed to infect him all the same. _**

"That's good I suppose…But if he wasn't human then what was he?" The Leader replied.****

"It looked like an animal, Sir. But it walks and talks just like a human specimen. In fact, it put up a fight. We think there may be more of his type, Sir."

"What makes you say that?" The Leader asked, his voice naturally booming.****

The creature hesitated for a second.  
**_  
"Well…the target managed to resist us just now, Sir. But he was awoken by a creature of similar appearance... He now knows of our presence."_**

**_"WHAT?"_** The Leader cried, causing his subjects to cower in fear.

A second creature stepped forward.

**_"S..Sir, he will join us, assuredly. He still has our infection within his blood. It shall take a stronger hold tomorrow evening and then we will get him!"_** he cried.

**_"You better make sure of that!" _**The Leader replied**_. "Or else our cover is blown completely."_**

The Leader walked rather solemnly now toward his subjects.

**_"We must get this right. The rest of our race is dead. We're here to multiply and bring back the Gargon race, not to mess around. You're lucky that I even brought you here when the planet collapsed!" _**

The Leader grabbed the second creature by the neck and held it aloft. The creature began to choke whilst the others coward in fear.

**_"Tonight, you make sure that…thing is within our control or else you'll have to answer to me… understand?" _**

The four aliens nodded quickly, even the one who's neck was being crushed by its leader. The Leader dropped his servant and he, along with his companions, scampered off.

………

The following afternoon, Sonic Shadow Knuckles and Tails were wondering along the sands of the beach. Shadow was trying to recollect his battle with the aliens so from there he and the others would be able to figure out where they were hiding.

Shadow suddenly stopped walking, his face looking at the sand.

"This is where I fell." He said. "Then…"

He looked into the distance.

"The aliens flew away in that direction….I think" he said, pointing toward the unexplored hills of forest and plantlife.

"They could be anywhere by now." Knuckles moaned.

"Oh stop all of your moaning Knucklehead!" Sonic said in frustration.

"What else is there to do Sonic? Those things could've gone back to their planet for all we know!" Knuckles fought back.

"Guys please don't shout!" Tails intervened "We need to think this through a little more logically…"

Sonic and Knuckles sighed and watched Tails ponder back and force.

"Hmmm…well maybe we should follow what Shadow remembers and follow the path the aliens went. I can get the Tornado!" Tails said, after some minutes of thought.

"Yeah but there's a high chance that nobody else even saw those things so how'd we know where to go?" Knuckles asked.

"We'll have to try it anyway, Knuckles. It's the best suggestion any of us have thought up all friggin' day!" Sonic replied.

"I'll go there now and fly back to get you guys in the morning ok?" Tails said.

The others nodded.

"Great Tails!" Sonic said.

Just then Shadow yawned and rubbed his eyes. His nightmare had led him to not sleeping the whole night.

"I've got to have some sleep…" he thought to himself. "But I can't risk those things getting me again."

"You alright there Shadow?" Sonic asked.

Shadow blinked and saw that all 3 of the others were looking at him.

"Oh! No no I'm fine!" he quickly said.

A few hours later the friends were back at the house. Tails left to go back to his home in Mystic Ruin and prepare the famous Tornado plane for its journey. Knuckles had also departed but just to quickly go back to Angel Island and check on the Master Emerald.

The time was coming up to 7 o'clock and Shadow was becoming increasingly tired. He was lying on the sofa facing Sonic's TV. In an aim to try and keep himself awake he flipped through the various channels. He found that most of the shows on were just crap and wondered why Sonic even paid for them.

He sighed, his eyelids getting heavier and heavier. Just then, Sonic walked through from the kitchen carrying a small bowl of chocolate ice cream. He sat down in an arm chair just next to the sofa. He saw Shadow's sleep deprivation almost immediately.

"Shadow, why don't you just have a nap? You look terrible and, frankly, a bit scary." Sonic said.

Shadow looked up at his friend, his eye now bloodshot. He suddenly became very twitchy and his breathing got faster.

"You don't understand, Sonic. If I fall asleep they'll come back!" Shadow said quickly but quietly.

"Shadow that was just a dream--" Sonic started.  
"No it wasn't!" Shadow interrupted "That was far too real to be a dream!"

He shuddered.

"They've done something to me, Sonic. Whatever it is that they've put inside me is trying to take over me!"

"Shadow you're being slightly paranoid here, do you not think? Yeah I believe you about the aliens but if they were trying to take over your mind they would have done it the night they found you on the beach!" Sonic replied.

Shadow sighed in frustration and got up from the sofa. Without saying anything, he walked upstairs. Sonic watched him as he went, a look of slight worry in his eyes.

"They've made him paranoid, that's for sure!" Sonic thought.


	5. A harsh reality

Shadow went to the spare that Knuckles had taken and flopped onto the bed, his body heavy with frustration and tiredness. His back landed on the soft quilt and Shadow immediately felt more comfortable and a little more relaxed. He stared blankly at the ceiling and sighed.

"He's probably right…" his mind told him. "But…that dream felt so real…No…no I can't sleep…"

He let out a huge yawn but then shook his head. He lay there for several minutes, not saying anything.

"…No, Sonic's right. It was only a dream!" Shadow told himself, chuckling slightly at his own "stupity".

The hedgehog looked back at his arm. Once again, the wound was sealed and looked as if it were healing well. But the unknown reason as to why those things had cut him like that was plaguing Shadow's mind.

Why had they done it?  
What was going to happen to him?  
What were those things anyway?

Once again, Shadow shook his head.

"I'm thinking too much…" Shadow yawned.

He nuzzled his head in the pillow and allowed his eye lids to slowly close, unaware that he was doing so. He sighed, feeling more at ease now. A few minutes later he was sound asleep.

But then he wished he had listened to his instincts and stayed awake.

Shadow opened his eyes and found himself back in the desolate homeland of the aliens. The wind was blowing harder now and Shadow was forced to shield his eyes almost as soon as he opened them, to avoid being blinded by the sand and dirt.

Unlike in Shadow's first dream, the sky was black but no stars could be seen through the thick camouflaged smoke.

The hedgehog stood up, realising where he was.

"…not again…" he moaned.

Just then, just as before, the four aliens appeared. They circled Shadow and began walking toward him. As it was darker than before, Shadow didn't notice the aliens straight away so when the horrific pain suddenly returned to his arm he was given a surprise.

He yelled aloud and clutched his arm. He looked around wildly for the aliens but couldn't see any sign of them. Slowly, Shadow could make out the outline of the creature's bodies emerging from darkness. Their shrilling voices began echoing around Shadow's head.

"Welcome back…" said the first voice.

Shadow's body began to become weaker as the intense pain began to move around his body. He began to shake and eventually fell to his knees.

"There's no escaping this time…" said a second voice.

"I knew it!" Shadow winced.

"There's nobody to save you…just let yourself go…make the pain stop, hedgehog." aid a third voice.

The voices began to move faster and faster around Shadow's head and made him feel sick. He fell to his front, shaking a little more violently now. The pain was beginning to engulf Shadow's body and, as it was doing so, Shadow's vision became blurry and out of focus.

He let out a huge scream of pain. This time, there was nobody to save him from his nightmare. The pain was too much for Shadow to handle and, just then, everything went black.

…..

Sonic was still sat downstairs enjoying his dessert when he heard movement form upstairs. I had been about half an hour since Shadow had gone up there and Sonic had assumed he'd gone to sleep. He sighed, after ignoring it didn't work, and trudged upstairs.

Just as he reached the upstairs landing, a horrific scream came from one of the spare rooms. Sonic gasped.

"Shadow!" he thought suddenly.

He ran quickly to the room he'd heard it from and kicked open the door. He found Shadow on the bed, in a worser state than he'd been in before. In his sleep, Shadow was clutching his injured arm and shaking rather violently. He was also covered in cold sweat.

Sonic rushed to his side and tried to wake him up.

"Shadow! Can you hear me?" Sonic cried.

Suddenly Shadow stopped moving and his grip on his arm relaxed. He lay limp and motionless on the bed. Sonic blinked and began to panic.

"Shadow?" he cried, grabbing Shadow by the shoulders and shaking him.

Shadow didn't react.

….."At last, our poison has purified your mind!" said the first voice again.  
"Open your eyes, hedgehog. You belong to us now!" said the fourth voice.

…..

Immediately, Shadow's eyelids opened and Sonic jumped back in fright. Shadow's pupils had turned a dark green colour. Sonic backed away as Shadow jumped from the bed, snarling. He grinned maliciously and began edging toward Sonic.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you Shadow!" Sonic cried.

He soon found himself backed against the wall and nowhere left to go.

"He was right all along…" Sonic thought. "They've turned him into a monster!"


	6. Just in Time

**I was really sorry to hear about the tragic bombings in London. M friend's dad was caught up in the chaos of it all but he's one of the lucky ones who survied, thank god!  
Give a few mins silence to thikn of all of those involved in the horrific events :(**

ps. Sonic and related characters are copyrighted by SEGA. The Gorgons are copyrighted by me. The storyline was created by me!  
WARNING: Use of the F word ;)  


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**Chapter 6**

Shadow continued to edge closer to Sonic, a look of malice in his eyes and an evil grin upon his face. Sonic quivered slightly against the wall.

"Shadow stop! You don't know what you're doing!" Sonic cried in vain.

Shadow's mouth opened to speak but what came out a low toned, almost electronic voice. Sonic had never heard this voice before and, though he tried not to show it, it frightened him.

"I'm Shadow no more, you fool!" the voice spoke from Shadow's mouth. "I've been purified."

Shadow looked at his hands.

"No longer do I have to live the complications and annoyances of a human lifestyle…"

"Shadow! I know you're in there! You have to fight!" Sonic cried.

Shadow's new voice boomed with laughter and smirked at Sonic's pathetic attempts. He oculd see the fear written all over Sonic's face.

"You're a stupid one aren't you?" Shadow remarked.  
"Stupid!" Sonic was angered by this comment but the obvious evil within Shadow scared him enough to stay put.

"You'd defiantly be better off living the role as a Gargon…" Shadow said, ignoring Sonic's "anger".

"Gargon? What the hell is…?" Sonic began.  
"This "Shadow" you keep referring to has had the honour of becoming the first host in the rebuilding of the Gargon kingdom. You…"

Shadow glared at Sonic and smirked.

"…shall be the second."

Sonic blinked and, in an instant, Shadow leapt at the blue hedgehog. His smirk turned into a snarl once more and Shadow's eyes were filled with determination. Sonic gasped and tried to jump out of Shadow's path. However he was too slow and Shadow caught his wrist.

Sonic gritted his teeth as he tried to push Shadow away form him but this new presence with Shadow's body was granted with great strength and a will of stone.  
Shadow gave another evil smile and, using his grip on Sonic's arm, pushed his rival to the ground with huge force.

Sonic hit the floor hard and smacked his forehead on the carpet. But Sonic didn't have time to even put his hand to his bruise as, within an instant, Shadow appeared by Sonic's head and grabbed his throat. Sonic gagged and began to choke as Shadow slowly lifted him from the floor.

Shadow stared at Sonic for a few seconds before clenching back the fingers on his free hand, revealing very sharp claws, similar to a cat's.

Sonic's sight began to waver as the lack of oxygen began to take effect. In a feeble attempt to free himself, he gripped Shadow's arm with his right hand. Shadow ignored this and simply brought the hedgehog closer to his own face.

"Don't worry, the pain will be over very shortly…" Shadow whispered into Sonic's ear.

He brought up his clawed hand, ready to strike and pass on the infection.

Everything seemed helpless.

But then, there came a noise from downstairs, which made Shadow jump. He immediately swung his head to look at the open doorway.

"Sonic what the hell's going on up there!" yelled a voice.

It was Knuckles.

It seemed that the door had been forgotten about and it hadn't been closed. Shadow cursed himself for this.

Sonic weakly lifted his left arm and reached toward the door.

"…Knuckles…" he croaked.

Shadow tightened his grip round Sonic's neck to keep him quiet.

"Oh no you don't!" he yelled, ignoring the fact that Knuckles was just downstairs.

Footsteps could be heard running up the stairs.

"Sonic you're gonna get the neighbours on you if you don't-"

Knuckles reached the doorway and saw the horrific sight.

**"Holy fuck!"** he yelled.

Sonic couldn't take anymore and both of his arms flopped to his sides, his grip loosened from around Shadow's arm.

"Damn you!" Shadow cursed at Knuckles, ignoring Sonic temporarily. Knuckles was taken aback by coming home to find what he did, but he immediately saw that the Shadow standing in front of him wasn't the Shadow he knew. He frowned.

"Whatever you are, let him go right now!" he yelled.Shadow simply smirked again and loosened his grip around Sonic's neck. Sonic fell to the ground and landed on his front. Knuckles beat his fists together.

"I have no time for games…" Shadow said, his eyes glowing green with malice.

Knuckles paid no heed to this and ran at Shadow, his fist held aloft and ready to strike. Shadow avoided the attack by jumping backwards and landing on the windowsill.

"I'll come back for you soon!" Shadow threatened. "And when I do there'll be no escape! The Gorgons are superior and I shall make sure they prevail!"

With that, Shadow kicked the window pane, causing it to smash into tiny fragments. Knuckles shielded his faces from the flying shards of glass and watched as Shadow dived out of the window and vanished in the darkness.

Knuckles went to Sonic's side and brushed the few bits of window from his body.

"Sonic wake up! Are you alright?" he asked.

Sonic moaned in pain and slowly pushed himself off the carpet floor, with Knuckles' support. He rubbed his throat and coughed. Then he put his hand to his hand and felt the small graze of a carpet burn.

"Yeah…I'm peachy…" he groaned.  
"Lucky for you I got back when I did huh?" Knuckles said, helping Sonic stand to his feet.

Sonic didn't answer and instead looked at the broken window. The curtains flew in the rushing wind and the gust flew inside the room, chilling the atmosphere.

"That's where he went huh?" Sonic asked.  
"Yeah. You were out for a good few minutes. He smashed the window and just jumped out!"

Sonic frowned.

"I should've listen to Shadow…he told me again and again what they were trying to do but…"

He sighed.

"Don't worry Sonic, we'll get him back." Knuckles said.

Sonic continued to look at the broken window.

"I hope you're right Knuckles…" he said quietly.


	7. Forever in your service

**Apologies of the lateness of this chapter '''' I had another case of writer's bock lol. But yeah I'm back now. Another apology for the shortness of this chapter! lol but yeh I hope u like it all he same**

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**Chapter 7**

"Excellent!" exclaimed the first of the four aliens. "I knew he wouldn't be able to resist a second time!"

"The Leader shall be very pleased, will he not?" said a second, a big grin of glee on his face.

"Yes but now those other creatures know about us. Should we not worry about them?" asked the third.

"It'll only be a matter of time before they join us too. There's no point spending our time worrying about those fools. We have more important matters at hand!" the first alien replied.

The first alien stepped away towards The Leader's chamber.

"Wait here for him. I shall inform the Leader." He said and scampered away before the others could answer.The tunnel which allowed the aliens to access the Earth's surface was disguised with a manhole cover. A few seconds after the first alien left, a shuffling sound could be heard from up there.

The aliens blinked and looked at each other.

"He's here!" they all said together.

Sure enough, Shadow then appeared from the gaping hole that lead to the city. He landed with precision and looked at the aliens. He bowed and put his hand on his chest in respect.

"I've come here as you requested." he said.

The aliens grinned. "Good work. Now, The Leader wishes to see you immediately." The first alien replied.

Shadow nodded and followed the alien to The Leader's chamber. As Shadow emerged into the dark mysterious room, the Leader turned and saw him approaching. He grinned and walked over to the hedgehog and the alien. Both of them bowed.

"Sir, we've managed to bring him to our side." The alien said. The Leader stared at Shadow, smirking with fulfilment.

"Excellent…" he said.

The aliens still spoke aloud in their hideous speech but Shadow could now understand it and could also now speak in the same way.

"I am forever in your service, my Lord." Shadow said, still bowed low."I am glad to hear it." The Leader replied.

He fluttered his hand at the other alien comrade, signalling him to leave. The alien did so.

"Tell me," The Leader continued to Shadow. "just what kind of creature are you? You're defiantly not that of human kind."

Shadow stood upright, his green eyes flashing in the dim light.

"No sir. I'm a hedgehog."  
"A hedgehog?"  
"Yes Sir. My name is Shadow.""Interesting…you have the same posture as that of a human, yet it is obvious by your appearance that you are in fact a hedgehog. Are there more like you?" The Leader asked.

"Many, my Lord." Shadow replied.  
"They shall soon be alongside you in my service, do you not agree?" The Leader asked.

"I can make it so." Shadow replied with a smirk. "Some know that I have joined the side of the Gargons but not all. I can trap them, my lord. Then they'll have no escape."

The Leader chuckled with excitement.

"I like the way your mind is set, Shadow." He said. "The more people infected, the quicker it takes for them to surcome to us. There is no stopping the rebuilding of the Gargon race!"

Shadow grinned evilly and his eyes flashed again widly.

……

"He's what?" Tails exclaimed.

It was now morning and Tails had just been told about the happenings of the previous night, by Knuckles. Sonic was at the mirror trying to carefully put a plaster on the carpet burn on his head.

"They got him Tails! He was right all along when he said that something was "taking over" him." Sonic said from the mirror. "There!"

"Well…what do you think we should do?" Tails asked, slightly annoyed at Sonic's apparent lazy attitude toward it all.

"Maybe we should look for him?" Knuckles suggested.  
"And do what then?" Sonic returned turning from the mirror. "He's one of them now you guys. I bet he'll try and do to us what they did to him."

Tails and Knuckles still looked a little confused. Sonic sighed.

"He'll try and make us one of them." He said.Tails and Knuckles got what Sonic was saying and nodded at one another.

"Do we even know what kind of things we're facing here?" Tails asked.

"Well yeah! Aliens!" Sonic answered."Yes but what KIND of aliens? I think maybe we should find out more about what these things actually are."

"How do you propose we do that?" Knuckles asked.  
"Well I guess there's only one way…we'll have to talk to Shadow."


	8. Screams in the night

**Here's the next chapter! I hope u like it!**

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**Chapter 8**

"Tails, are you _insane_?" Sonic questioned, with a sudden gesture.

Tails shrugged.

"What?"

"Can you not imagine how stupid that'd be? _"Hey Shadow! Before you turn us into weird aliens can you tell us just what they are please?"_" Sonic imitated.

"He has a point, Tails." said Knuckles.

"But how else can we do it?" Tails asked.

With the time now slowly moving into early evening, Sonic Tails and Knuckles now sat in the front room of Sonic's apartment. The sunset shone a golden shade through the window yet it didn't lighten up the serious mood.

Sonic's mind suddenly clicked, remembering his brush up with Shadow.

"Gargons…" he said to himself quietly.  
"Excuse me?" Knuckles said, overhearing.

Sonic jumped up from his chair, a little too fast which caused him to sway a bit, as he realized what Shadow had said to him.

"They're called Gargons!" Sonic shouted.  
"What the hell is -" Knuckles began.

"That's what I said!" Sonic butted in. "Right before he went for me, Shadow said something about being "purified" and that the "Gargons" would be superior one day…"

Tails and Knuckles stayed silent.

"Isn't it a little obvious? These aliens are trying to take over the planet!" Sonic eagerly said. "They must use those claws to transfer some kind of mind controlling…thing."

Sonic paused.

"Yeah…Shadow tried to scratch me earlier. These claws just randomly appeared from his hand…" he said, waving his hand slowly in the air as he tried to say the right words.

Tails began to ponder the room in thought. Knuckles was getting a little impatient, determined to get to the root of the problem ASAP.

"OK so we know what these things are and how they take over people. I say we go and beat them now before it's too late!" he yelled, punching the air.

"For once I agree with Knux." Sonic said.

Tails sighed. This wasn't getting them anywhere.

"We can still do what we planned in the first place, follow the aliens path (according to Shadow's directions)." He said. "The Tornado's outside…but maybe we should call it a night for now? We'll be able to think clearer in the morning."

Sonic opened his mouth to argue back but his weariness dawned on him and he agreed.

…………

Within minutes of getting into bed, Sonic fell into an uneasy sleep. His dreams were of Shadow crying out for help as he became snared by a strange darkness. Sonic could only stand and watch in horror, unable to move his legs. He held aloft his hand to try and reach for his friend but Shadow simply couldn't reach and he disappeared.

Sonic cried Shadow's name aloud but it was no good.

Then the darkness turned toward him. Sonic gasped and became overwhelmed with fear. As the thing grew closer, Sonic began to quiver; his fear becoming more and more obvious. He screamed.

Sonic sat up quickly, gasping for breath. It took him a few seconds to realise that he was back in his bedroom. He wiped his brow and found it was drenched in sweat. Sonic sat there for a few minutes to allow his breathing to slow down. Eventually, he looked over at a little clock sitting on his bedside table. The time was 5am.

Sonic groaned at having being woken up so early and trudged out of bed and down stairs. He flopped into his favourite armchair positioned in front of the TV and turned it on.

_"News just in! Reports of attacks are coming into police head quarters at an alarmingly high rate."_

Sonic sat up.

_"It appears that the perpetrators' motive is to scratch the victim and leave to bleed. More and more are being attacked by the second yet, strangely, none have agreed to be admitted to the hospital."_

…..

Meanwhile, out on the dark streets of town, a cute little hedgehog was hurrying down the road. She stopped and looked up at a signpost, her eyes squinting to try and read it in the dark.

"Should be just along here…" she said to herself.

She walked past an alleyway, which lead into shadow. As she passed it, she thought she heard a noise; footsteps. She gasped and quickly turned but saw nothing.

"Weird…" she said and continued walking.

She soon ended up underneath a street lamp, fully illuminating her image. She rummaged around her pocket and found a street map.

"Sonic's place just has to be here somewhere!" She said, her voice filled with weariness.

Just then, she could hear footsteps again.

Then…

"Hey there Amy…" said a low toned voice.

Amy gasped and spun around.

"Relax Amy, it's me." Said the voice again.

Amy sighed as she saw Shadow emerging from the darkness.

"Oh Shadow! Why are you out lurking so early in the morning? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" she said, her breathing slowing down now.

"I should be asking you the same thing." Shadow replied, smirking.

Amy sensed that there was something wrong but, in the end, blamed it on the surroundings.

"Well ummm…I'm trying to find Sonic's place. Something weird is going on where I live and I have to tell him-"

"Why do you run around after _him_ all the time?" Shadow interrupted.

Amy was a little taken a back. Shadow began to edge closer to her.

….

Sonic was sat upright, now fully alert, his eyes fixed on the TV.

_"The police have advised people to stay away from the perpetrators and alert police right away, if they are seen."_

"How could this happen so quickly?" Sonic said quietly to himself.

…..

"Shadow have you been drinking or something?" Amy said, backing away.  
"You can't resist it Amy." Shadow said, as if he hadn't heard Amy's question.

He edged closer and closer to Amy until she found herself backed against a brick wall, no longer in the light of the lamppost. Shadow loomed over Amy threateningly. Amy began to quiver slightly but tried not to show it.

"You'll be a fine addition…" Shadow said and began stroking Amy's hair.That was it for Amy.

"Oh go sleep it off Shadow!" She yelled and brought forward her hand, attempting to slap for her freedom. But in a flash, Shadow grabbed Amy's wrist and held it aloft.

Amy let out a scream for help.

…..

"This is insane…" Sonic said again to himself.

Just then, he heard a horribly high pitched scream from outside, which he recognised almost right away.

_"Amy!"_

He leapt from the armchair and dashed out of the front door.

…..

Shadow quickly muffled Amy's cry by putting his hand over her mouth.

"Ssssh!" he said. "We don't want any of that now do we?" Shadow said, his voice becoming darker.

His claws emerged from his hand and Amy emitted a muffled squeal at the sight of them. Shadow brought the claws closer and closer to Amy's arm.

Suddenly, Shadow was thrown out of Amy's sight. He'd received a blow to the side and landed painfully on the ground, a few feet away from Amy.

Amy looked up and gasped with delight.

"Sonic!"


End file.
